The Scottish Naturalist. 49 



diffusion of Gold in Silurian slates, and their derived Drifts or 

 alluvium in Scotland." 



In reference to these opinions, the late Mr. George Anderson 

 of Inverness, Solicitor, one of the authors of the well known 

 and excellent " Guide to the Highlands" — the best of all our 

 Highland guide books — who was geological critic or correspon- 

 dent of the "Inverness Courier" — wrote me (of date January 

 17, 1863): "I quite agree with you that if our Highland rocks 

 are not rich in gold, they are at any rate of much the same 

 geological era that the deposits abounding in that metal are 

 elsewhere, and hence they are worthy of the greatest study. I 

 expect to have an article for the " Courier" of next week on 

 the subject, calling on our local explorers to be on the out- 

 look." 



In 1865, still referring to the gold-fields of New Zealand, 

 I stated to the Royal Geological Society of Ireland, that "I have 

 not (since 1861) seen reason to alter any of my opinions, 

 or modify the results or records of my personal observations. On 

 the contrary, the mining experience of the last two years has 

 only served to confirm the predictions or assertions I ventured 

 to make while on the spot." .... "The parallelism 

 between the auriferous slates of Otago and Scotland is remark- 

 able. I was struck with it while in Otago, and I have since traced 

 and proved it by a personal examination of the Highlands of 

 Dumfries, Lanark, Peebles and Perth shires. The Leadhills 

 district, may for instance be said to be a second edition of 

 Tuapeka .... Gold is procurable under precisely similar 

 circumstances, though in smaller amount." . . . "I have 

 a high opinion of the auriferous richness of these Coromandel 

 Quartzites, and of the yield they will give when science is properly 

 applied to the extraction of their wealth ; and I may make the 

 same remark in regard to the auriferous Qiiartzites of Otago 

 and Nelson." The newspaper report (of date January 1 1, 1865) 

 of the same memoir quotes me as of opinion in regard to Otago, 

 that "Gold occurs in Quartz, which is associated with meta- 

 morphic slates similar to those of Scotland. . . . Quartz 

 reefing has not yet been undertaken ; but from the richness 

 of the washings, it is probable that the regular Quartz-mining 

 will be highly productive." 



In 1867, I reported to the "British Association" at Dundee, 

 that "there are indications (if they do not always amount to proofs) 

 of the existence in Scotland of auriferous Qiiartzites — of Gold in 



